Constitute
by Kiba Sniper
Summary: When their journey is finished, Sig asks Salde a question as they rest by the shore.


Constitute

"Hey. Am I a demon?"

Salde's servant rarely asks anything to spark his curiosity, but Sig's question wafts in the cool breeze. Salde turns his gaze away from the sea, the peaceful falling of waves crashing into the shoreline suddenly sounding distant.

Sig is staring at his hand. He turns over his palm and inspects his bulkier fingers, noting his fingernails ending in sharp points like knives. There is a coarser texture to his skin compared to his human arm, and when he rubs his elbow, he's reminded of sandpaper. Sig flexes his fingers and grazes his palm. When he expects pain from his sharp nails itching against his skin, he feels nothing. He can't even give a fleeting wince.

Salde frowns. He crosses his arms and cocks his head, remarking, "We are unsure of what you mean. Speak clearer."

Sig hums, his head slowly tilting at his hand. His ladybug, perched on his antenna-like hair, scuttles towards his forehead. Patting his friend, Sig sighs.

Salde senses Sig's distress, but he says nothing. He had already been eaten by a whale and reverted back to his human form in the trauma. He believed that was much worse than whatever morbid spell Sig found himself under. Salde kicks his feet in the water, glancing over his shoulder in case Otomo appeared.

"Glasses was saying some strange things. Saying I was his other half," Sig comments, and he drums his fingers on his thigh. He gazes at his reflection in the shimmering blue water. The salty scent comforts him, giving him something pleasant to inhale while his thoughts swirl in his head.

"We do not know anything about that. If anything, we are just as confused as you," Salde huffs and crosses his arms. Kicking the incoming wave, he watches the water arc in midair like a crescent moon before plummeting back into the ocean.

Sig lets Salde's words settle in his ears. The gentle heartbeat of the sea echoes around him. He spots a school of tiny gray fish swim through between Salde's ankle. Hearing Salde giggle from the tickling sensation brings a tiny smile to his face.

The sunset continues with streaks of pink and yellow burning freely across the sky. He had never been a fan of either color as he enjoyed blue hues. He notices the scarlet sun casting a harsh glare on the water, and he tenses, watching the red shadow devour the blue liquid. Sig swallows.

Salde's lips stretch towards his chin. He had already made Sig do so much for him in retrieving the Star Lantern to achieve his fish form again. From battling people to taking on mundane tasks such as carrying him, Sig truly had been a valuable servant. Unlike Otomo, complaints never drifted past Sig's thoughts.

He sees Sig shiver. With the sun lowering in the sky and their feet in the sea, Salde supposes it might be a natural chill until Sig's unanswered question hits him. He casts a wary glance at Sig's arm, remembering how it pulsed before his confrontation with that peculiar boy holding the Star Lantern.

"You are upset?" Salde asks. "Genuinely and truly aggravated because of your arm?"

Sig nods, a sigh slipping between the crease of his mouth. He closes his eyes as Glasses' words mingle around his mind, taunting him with whispers of a harsh truth. If he had lost that Puyo battle, he wonders if he would even be himself. That other demon would have usurped his very soul and torn apart the person once known as Sig until not a single shred remained.

As the color drains from Sig's face, Salde's worry intensifies. He purses his lips, struggling for words as Sig buries his chin to his chest. Salde rubs the back of his neck as his mouth opens and closes. To his displeasure, any intelligent comment he tries to make dies in his throat.

"That strange being," Salde begins, staring out at the sea, "must be a true monster to have upset you like this, but we do not think you should fear him."

Sig drags his attention over to Salde, a bemused mumble bouncing in his closed mouth.

Salde grins, his hands coming together in a crisp clap. "Yes! We have a solution to your conundrum!"

"And what is it?" Sig wonders, his ladybug also looking at Salde.

The prince stabs his forefinger at Sig's nose. "We thinks it is a simple process of what is and is not a demon! A demon is cruel, merciless, foul! However, we know that you are not! Our servant is generous and never complains while being completely obedient. A demon would never act like you have. Thus-" Salde breaks into a wide smirk, his eyes twinkling. "-it is impossible for you to be a demon!"

Sig echoes his confusion through a droning hum before clamping his lips tightly shut. He mulls over Salde's words, his eyes beginning to light up. The smile on his face begins to stretch, matching Salde's confident expression.

"Yeah. Yeah. I think I'm not like what you said. I'm not a demon," Sig says, and Salde snaps his hands to his hips.

"Verily! We concur that what we have said is absolutely right and acknowledge your agreement!" Salde proclaims, thrusting his hand out as if he were commanding a noble army. His laugh, which would have been regal if it had not been for his natural high pitch, pierces Sig's eardrums.

Sig rubs his ear, wincing as the laughter strikes him, but he continues to smile. He returns his gaze to the calm sea, observing the deeper blue water banish the red tide, washing it away under white foam and dark seaweed. Reaching up, he pets his treasured ladybug and observes Salde skip a few smooth stones he had kept in his pocket. He takes a handful of them, throws ones, and narrows his gaze when it plops into the ocean.

"Come now! That surely cannot be your best tossing technique," Salde sneers, raising a stone. "In fact, you are lucky that we are here to show you the proper way to skip stones!"

"Prince!"

Otomo's voice slashes through their serenity. Salde shrieks, collecting his boots and shoving them on his feet. Ignoring the wet leather now irritating his feet, Salde shouts for Sig to protect him. Salde makes a mad dash across the beach as Otomo comes into view from the woods, each of them gasping.

Sig stands, sighing and thumbing one of the stones. He glances down at his hand, and as Otomo chases after Salde, his eyes widen. The other stones in his human hand fall soundlessly into the golden sand.

Faintly, under the budding moonlight, his red arm glows as he holds his last stone. Despite everything, it still shines in a way that makes his blood run cold. Swallowing, Sig chucks his final rock into the water, and when he turns away to race after Salde and Otomo, the stone skips three times before plummeting into the sea.

 _I'm not an actual demon,_ he thinks as icy sweat begins to trickle down his cheeks, _right?_


End file.
